This disclosure relates to gaming machines for playing games such as wager games.
Wager games can be played on a variety of electromechanical and electronic devices. An electro-mechanical slot machine may include one or more reels, each of which includes multiple symbols distributed around the circumference of the reel. When a player places a wager (e.g., by placing a coin in the machine), the player is allowed to spin the reels. Each reel then comes to rest, typically with either one of the symbols, or a space in between symbols, in alignment with a pay line. A predefined winning symbol or a predefined winning combination of symbols that are aligned with the pay line can result in the player winning the game and receiving a payout. In one example, the machine may include three reels, and the pay line may be a horizontal line disposed across a center of each of the three reels.
In another example of a wager game, an electro-mechanical slot machine may present symbols in a matrix arrangement, with each symbol changing during a spin of the game. For example, the machine may have five columns and three rows of symbols, for a total of fifteen symbols. Such machines often have multiple pay lines, each being defined by a collection of positions within the matrix. For example, the machine may have three pay lines, each corresponding to one row of the matrix.
Other gaming machines are possible as well. An electronic gaming machine can be located in a gaming location, such as a casino. The electronic gaming machine can include a graphical user interface (GUI) that emulates an electro-mechanical slot machine. With an electronic gaming machine, the GUI may include a display that displays an image of one or more reels or a matrix as described above, together with animation effects to simulate a spin of the one or more reels, or a spin of the columns or rows of the matrix. A computer software program, which may reside in the electronic gaming machine, may randomly select one or more symbols in response to a spin, and may display the selected one or more symbols on the display.